


Reclaiming Wishes

by mikapple



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Awkward Love Confessions, Canon Compliant, Comfort, Crazy Bonfire Drinking Parties, Delinquents Being Delinquents, F/M, In which everyone is finally happy, Post-Canon, what a concept
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 14:36:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7175897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikapple/pseuds/mikapple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skaikru is finally done getting acclimated to their new home, and the delinquents decide to celebrate how far they've come. Everyone else is having fun reflecting on the past, but Clarke and Bellamy have some things that need to be said. Series Finale AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reclaiming Wishes

**Author's Note:**

> This was both fun and super frustrating to write, and I never could have done it without Tori's (iamsnowwhite) constant guidance. Inspired by the song "North" by Sleeping at Last, to which Georgia and I cried together.

After months of effort, Arkadia was finished being rebuilt. Compared to the struggles required to even reach this point, manual labor was simple and easy. Most civilians were assigned rotational construction duties that spanned the entire course of the day in order to assure that there was adequate shelter before winter came.

The moment the last wood beam was laid into place was seen by many as their official fresh start on Earth. No more running. This was finally their home.

In true delinquent style, Jasper suggested that the remaining survivors from the dropship hold their own little celebration. “Like Unity Day, but more alcohol,” were his exact words.

That night, they gathered up all the remaining wood and set up a bonfire, encircled by uncut logs that would serve as benches. One by one, each person completed their respective workload and claimed their place around the fire. Clarke had finished first, and was already sitting when Bellamy took the spot right next to her.

There were only eight seats taken. Eight individuals who were around since the dropship, excluding Murphy, who preferred to keep to himself even after all these years. Of course, they could sit in thoughtful silence at the grim realization that most of their people weren’t there. But that would be too simple, too easy.

Tonight was rather a night to revel in the little victories, and surviving was one they wouldn’t take for granted.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Jasper stood up and addressed the group in his most overly-dramatic voice. “Tonight, we toast to us! To _not_ getting speared in the chest!" 

In his hand was a canteen of what Bellamy assumed was whiskey. He raised it up before nodding to each one of them, then throwing his head back and taking a swig. Once he was done, Jasper stepped toward Harper, placing the container in in her grasp.

“How touching,” she teased.

“I personally found it _very_ touching. Your turn.”

She raised an eyebrow as if to challenge, but the smirk on her face betrayed her amusement. In a similar fashion, she too raised the canteen in the air. “To keeping your lazy asses out of trouble.” That remark garnered a defiant giggle from Miller, probably from the truth of it.

Next was Monty. Careful not to drop it, he grabbed the tarnished silver flask and stared confusedly as he held it in his lap.

“Jasper, how the hell is this more than Unity Day?” he chided, looking up at his friend who was standing perhaps a bit too close to the massive flame.

“Use your imagination. I may have underestimated how much the adults like to party.”

“Jasper,” Clarke, who had mostly been silent spoke up. “We _are_ adults.”

Technically, it was true. Even Jasper and Monty (who had both been just 15 at the time they were sent to the ground) were no longer teenagers. That didn’t mean they always acted their age, however.

Jasper turned to face her. “Not another word from you, Griffin! Your mother’s the worst offender of them all! I bet Abby’s the only reason you beat me last time. Genetics and all." 

“I don’t know what’s scarier, that statement or the fact that you’re all supposed to be adults,” Bellamy chimed in. The idea of Abby Griffin, fearless leader and esteemed doctor as a _party animal_ was definitely both amusing and slightly disturbing. He tried to erase the thought from his head, certain the others were doing the same.

“I feel lied to,” Monty blankly stated, returning his gaze to the canteen. “Anyway… To good friends. We’re kind of stuck with each other,” he joked before taking a sip and passing the jug to Miller.

“Preferably more than three words, ‘kay Nathan?” Raven called out to him.

In return, he simply glanced back at the fire, pensively. “To growing old,” he said, flashing her a smug grin as soon as he finished, scanning the group for their reactions. _Freaking drama queen_ , Bellamy thought.

Raven scoffed and reached over Jasper’s empty seat to snatch the canteen, still visibly amused. “Bear with me,” she began. “This will be mushy.”

“I never had you pegged as the sentimental type,” Octavia teased, nudging the other woman with her shoulder. Raven faced her, unamused, before continuing. 

“Well…growing up, I never had many friends, so it was hard to learn how to rely on others. I thought I could do everything on my own, and the less anyone else was involved, the better. Somehow, I found myself in a 120 year old hunk of metal, barreling for Earth, hoping it wasn’t a death sentence. Instead of the more probable deadly mutated animals, I found a group of teenagers trying to do what I’d done my whole life: survive.” She paused for a moment. “God, you guys were just so _dirty_.” Laughter erupted from around the fire. They couldn’t even deny it.

“Little did I know that friendship was what I had needed all along. Doing things on your own may seem convenient, but it’s actually very tiring. You guys may be tiring in _other_ ways, but I appreciate having you around.” Raven took a swig, maybe a little larger than necessary, handing it to Octavia. “That’s all.”

Jasper, who had returned to his seat next to Raven, spoke up. “I’d like to say before we continue that there _were_ indeed giant mutated animals, and be glad you didn’t see any of them. That shit was creepy.”

“You’re right about that,” Octavia nodded once in agreement before drinking as well, then holding out the canteen toward Bellamy. “Ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim.”

“I’m gonna hope that was something insightful,” said Monty. None of the others knew the language of the Grounders (and Octavia knew this), so she could have easily said either a blessing or a backhanded comment.

And finally, it was Bellamy’s turn to toast. All eyes were on him, curious as to what insightful speech he had prepared. So much had happened over the course of the last few years, too much to sum up in just a few words. Still, he wanted to at least try. There were things that needed to be said before he lost the courage to do so.

He stood up.

“We’ve come a long way since ‘whatever the hell we want’. If you asked a single person on the Ark whether they believed a bunch of teenagers could somehow survive on the ground, they would’ve laughed in your face. Hell...” he paused, gauging the group’s reactions. “I hardly believe it and I was _there_. But we somehow managed to do it, to survive, though it wasn’t easy.”

He took a moment to catch his breath. Now that he started, he had to finish. He’d say everything, no matter how hard his heart was pounding or how scared it made him. No more running away.

“And I don’t think any of us are the same person we were when we stepped out of the dropship. I know I’m not. I’ve done terrible things, things I’m not proud of. But… I’ve also found the motivation to keep trying to be better. I want to be better.” He turned, looking directly at Clarke, trying with all his will to reach her. Her eyes were fixed on his, ready for whatever came next.

“You inspire me to be a better person.”

To an extent, it was true for all of them. But these words were meant for Clarke.

Something unrecognizable glimmered in her deep blue eyes. Bellamy didn’t possibly wish for anything more, he couldn’t wish for more. He was far from the man he wanted to be, the one she deserves, so for now, just the hope that he could stay by her side would be enough.

He took a sip from the canteen, still standing. _Moonshine_. Nobody spoke, the crackling of the burning firewood and distant chirps of crickets drowning out the awkward silence. Quickly, he sat down (just a bit further away from Clarke than before) and placed the canteen in her hands, struggling not to look at her face and trying to hide the blush he felt on his.

“I don’t have a toast,” she stated blankly. “You’ve all pretty much covered everything, so let’s go crazy!”

“Clarke, we don’t really have anything to do.” That was Raven.

“Oh, about that,” Jasper interrupted. “I lied.”

It had been too dark to tell, but Brian and Murphy were just a few feet from the fire carrying two giant kegs of something that smelled very strong. Most likely more of Monty’s moonshine.

He was clearly shocked, mouth agape. “Wait a second, _that’s_ what all of this was for? You said we needed it to trade!”

“I’m a good bluffer.” Both men exchanged glances before breaking out into fits of laughter.

“Whatever, I’m not complaining,” Octavia was the first to rush over to help, followed shortly by Raven and Harper.

At least now Bellamy could get drunk and try to forget saying anything at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 A couple of hours later and the festivities showed no sign of ending. Clarke had to sneak away, if only for a moment. She could only handle so many drunken accounts of how to best generate an electronic beacon, and she didn’t have the heart to admit to Raven that she didn’t understand a word of what she was saying. Plus, there was something else on her mind.

_You inspire me to be a better person._

Bellamy said she inspired him, but she could see that wasn’t all he meant. He made it pretty clear, and Clarke had her suspicions for a while. It just didn’t feel real.

He loved her. God, he _loved_ her.

She was scared. Who could blame her, the last two people she allowed herself to love were dead. Finn by her own hand. She thought nothing could hurt more than the guilt of his death being on her shoulders. Then, Lexa came along and left all too quickly. That was a thousand times worse. Clarke couldn’t take another person she cared for leaving her. Maybe it was selfish to think of it that way, but she didn’t want to be alone again.

She knew she loved Bellamy back, loved him against her better judgement. That was the worst part.

Stewing in her own thoughts, Clarke was too distracted to notice Bellamy coming to stand at her side. When she finally saw him, she let out a surprised gasp.

“Sorry, did I scare you?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

Taking deep breaths to bring her pulse down, Clarke could only shake her head. “Don’t worry about it, I was distracted,” she finally said.

“Well this is a rare occasion,” he teased, trying to avoid the topic they were both obviously thinking about. “Clarke Griffin, distracted. I think I need to mark the time and date.”

His terrible joke lessened the tension, at least. “You’re not funny, Bellamy.” 

“I didn't drink enough to be genuinely funny, my apologies. What do you prefer I talk about, then? How engaging and interesting construction detail is?”

“You can say that again,” Clarke retorted. “Best part about building cabins? No levers involved.” Both laughed. After everything that happened, they could finally take a step back and laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. 

“That’s only because you’ve refused to learn how to drive the rover.”

She shrugged and shot him a cocky grin. Bellamy couldn’t help but smile back. Caught up in the whirlwind of emotions, he had almost forgotten how ridiculous and stubborn she could be. Not that he was complaining, it was actually quite endearing. 

Neither said anything after that. They both thought the silence was nice, much preferred to the mayhem that awaited them back at the bonfire. It was as if nothing had changed at all. The distance between them gradually closed, until their shoulders were almost touching.

Suddenly, a streak of white light twinkled ever so slightly in the horizon, catching their attention. It immediately brought to mind old memories, before the grounders or Mount Weather or ALIE, when humanity’s salvation rested simply on the survival of a hundred juvenile delinquents in a new and dangerous world. By all accounts they should’ve died then as well.

But they didn’t.

They didn’t stop fighting then and Clarke wouldn’t stop fighting now, if not for the sake of those who were gone, then for the sake of those who still live. How very ironic that after all the trials and tribulations it was Bellamy at her side, against all odds.

Bellamy’s eyes were toward the sky, shining in wonder at the endless array of stars scattered in the night. And Clarke’s eyes were on him, all tan skin with freckles she believed to be just as beautiful.

She looked down, mentally attempting to piece together words that could form some coherent thought of just how important he was to her. Eventually she just decided to give up. Speeches were _his_ specialty, after all. Instead, she relied upon echoed words from a simpler time: 

“Can you wish on this kind of shooting star?”

It came out soft, almost a whisper. Bellamy turned to face her, visibly stunned. She looked up to meet his eyes. A moment passed and he gently smirked, expression softening. He remembers as well.

“Maybe not,” he pauses, never breaking eye contact. Both reach out simultaneously. Their hands meet, palm brushing palm, fingers entwined; inseparable. Bellamy takes a deep breath. “But if so… I think I finally know what to wish for.”

Her feelings reached him. She couldn’t help but feel happy, being with Bellamy just felt right. But Clarke couldn’t choke down this fear that haunted her, that somehow she would be left alone once again. He must have seen her reservations, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

“I’m not going anywhere, Clarke.”

How strange that those five words could actually make her feel better. She was surprised by her own reaction, having felt anxious for so long and expecting that it couldn’t be that simple.

“I believe you,” she said before she could even stop herself. And it was true.

Clarke couldn’t foresee what the future held for them. Truthfully, there may be many hardships to come, and maybe the nightmares would never go away. All she knew was that she wanted Bellamy at her side for all of it. She _needed_ him to be. So long as they were together, she knew she could face whatever hell threw her way. Fear wouldn’t win this time, couldn’t possibly take this one precious thing from her.

She smiled.

_The ground, that’s the dream._


End file.
